Lyric Opera 2025-2026 Issue 1 - Medea

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 14 You have other passions too, like movie reviewing. I’ve been reviewing films on my website Peneflix for almost 20 years, and it requires a tremendous amount of work and thought. Not just going to the movies but writing about them. I realized with my extra commitments, not only to the opera, that I was spreading myself too thin, so I am on sabbatical until the commencement of the Chicago International Film Festival in October. Like Lyric, film touches everyone; the genre is embracive of all cultures and broadens horizons. What are some of your other major activities? For 25 years, I gave museum tours, first at the Art Institute, and then at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I have a traditional art history background — and I relish the Art Institute of Chicago, but the MCA focuses on the contemporary, the tools used by the young to create their works. I was head of the volunteers the last year the MCA was on Ontario, and the first year in the new building. The Newberry Library is also a passion. My husband, Robert, was a very poor boy, a Damon Runyon character. He was an entrepreneur at five years old; he ran a library lending his comic books. He won a myriad of scholarships. He was so ahead of his time. We were true partners, respecting our individual passions. We felt that to whom much is given, much is expected. His number one charity, which of course is one of mine, was At Lyric’s 2024 gala,Penelope Steiner hit the dance floor with daughter Nicole Steiner,daughter-in-law Sara Anstoetter,and son Robert Steiner. Right: Penelope and Robert on their wedding day. the Posse Foundation, which finds promising high school students and gives full-tuition scholarships for college. The Foundation’s gift to Lyric is really an extraordinary legacy for both of you. I would love for someone to give more than I. And I’ve got some people in mind! I would be their number one cheerleader. I have had my “15 minutes;” I’m dying for someone to knock me off the pedestal. I did it because opera speaks to my soul. It’s personal. I like the whole drama, and the catharsis that goes with every opera. Lyric holds the major real estate in my heart. Kyle Flubacker